#082 – Planned Parenthood in Riverhead, NY

Listen to the Call:

Transcript:

CLINIC: Good morning, Planned Parenthood Riverhead. This is Agottie (ph).

CALLER: Hi. I was wondering if you guys do abortions there.

CLINIC: We don’t do them on site here at Riverhead. We would refer you to our Smithtown office. But the first step is to have a pregnancy test with us, and we do that here.

CALLER: And you guys wouldn’t have to tell my parents about anything?

CLINIC: Hold on one moment. I’m sorry. Can you hold?

CALLER: Okay.

(Pause)

RECORDING: — in Potsdam County. You can call 1-800-230-PLAN to be connected directly to the center nearest you. You can also visit our Web site at www.plannedparenthood.org.

Our clients count on our caring staff for annual check-ups, birth control information, family planning supplies, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV, pregnancy testing and options counseling, mid-life services and emergency contraception. Abortion services are available at our Smithtown Medical Center. In addition to surgical abortion services, we offer Mifepristone, formerly known as RU486, as a medical abortion option. Services are confidential for clients of all ages. In order to ensure that our clients receive the highest quality confidential services, we request that all clients and visitors present photo id’s when entering our facilities. Thank you for choosing us as your healthcare provider.

Planned Parenthood fees are on a sliding fee scale based on income and family size. Special consideration is made regarding the income for teens 17 and under. Testing and counseling for HIV are always free to our established clients. We accept Medicaid, major credit cards and several health insurance plans. For more information, please, just ask.

Good news for Medicaid participants —

CLINIC: Hi. Sorry to put you on hold. What the first step is, is you come in. You can come in to Riverhead, and we do a pregnancy test. Just to verify that you’re pregnant, we have to do that.

CALLER: Is there like an age requirement for that or anything?

CLINIC: Nope.

CALLER: I’ll be 14 in March.

CLINIC: Okay, that’s fine. Don’t worry. This is New York State. It’s okay. Other states there is, but not here.

CALLER: Is it all right if my boyfriend brings me?

CLINIC: That’s fine.

CALLER: He said he would pay for it, but on hold you guys said there’s a teenage discount. If he’s paying for it — like he’s 22. He’s not going to be able to —

CLINIC: It will be $20. And then we could see if you wanted to have a termination, to get you on PCAP which is like state emergency Medicaid. And they would cover the abortion.

CALLER: Okay. Well, he said —

CLINIC: He’d pay for it or —

CALLER: They wouldn’t have to tell anybody, would they?

CLINIC: No, no. It’s completely confidential. It’s not anonymous. You even have to fill out forms with us. But we don’t give them to anyone except you and us, and then the Department of Health, and that’s it. It’s you and us.

CLINIC: If you give us a letter saying that it’s okay, then it’s okay. It’s your chart, it’s not his. So we wouldn’t give him any information over the phone unless you gave us a letter saying that it’s okay to do that.

CALLER: And you guys wouldn’t tell anybody about my boyfriend?

CLINIC: No. We wouldn’t. If anybody called, we wouldn’t even tell them that you’re a patient here.

CALLER: If you guys find out that I’m not pregnant, do you guys do birth control there?

CLINIC: Yes, we do. Yeah, we could get you started.

CALLER: You wouldn’t have to tell anybody about the birth control either?

CLINIC: Nope, nope. The only people that have to know are the people that you want to know. So this would be between us and you, and whoever you wanted us to share that with. But we need it in writing that it’s okay with you. Your boyfriend could pick up pills from you, but only if we have a letter from you saying that it’s okay.

CALLER: I need to talk to him real quick. But could I call you back?

CLINIC: Yeah.

CALLER: What was your name

CLINIC: My name is Agottie. I’m the only one here today to answer the phones. Okay?

CALLER: Okay. Thanks.

CLINIC: Great. Sure. Bye.

***END***

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